The present invention relates to an improved system and method for carrying out personal and business transactions, such as financial transactions, e-mail transactions, and voice messaging transactions. The system and method of the present invention may be utilized by hearing individuals as well as hearing impaired or deaf individuals.
Communication plays an increasingly growing role in today's society. Despite dramatic technological changes in the past years, the telephone continues to be a principal means of communication. A growing number of people have cell phones and routinely use them to leave voice messages for friends and associates and conduct business transactions. Sometimes however the telephone number of the individual or business that they are trying to contact is not readily available.
Over the years, messaging systems have been developed which allow a user to leave messages for subscribers to the messaging system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,476 to D'Apuzzo et al., for example, illustrates a nonpublished number messaging system which allows a caller to leave a message for a party having an unpublished telephone number. In this system, calls to a directory assistance operator are routed to a voice mail service provider. A recorded message left by the caller is delivered to the appropriate party by the provider.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,781 to DeJager illustrates a message notification system in which subscribers are automatically notified of newly arrived messages in their mailboxes when they initiate a transaction, such as a calling card call or a withdrawal at an ATM. The mail arrival notification message is delivered to the subscriber as part of the validation process for the credit/debit or calling card number.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,675,507 to Bobo II illustrates a message storage and delivery system which is connected to a plurality of DID phone lines. The system is designed to receive facsimile messages, voice messages, and data messages. The system assigns a separate telephone number to each user and is capable of receiving more than one message simultaneously for a single user. The messages are stored in a memory and converted into HTML files. The system is connected to the Internet and notifies the users with an e-mail message each time a message is received. The system is also capable of paging a user upon receipt of a message. After receiving notification, the user can download the message onto his/her computer or simply preview the message. A user can also telephone the system to listen to messages.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,239 to Solomon et al. describes a method and an apparatus for establishing anonymous telephone communications between service subscribers and responding callers over public telephone lines. Incoming calls from callers are transferred by a system controller and an additional subsystem to a message recording facility or directly to the desired subscriber.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,747 to Yue et al. relates to a personal number communications system which assigns a personal number to each subscriber and receives from each subscriber communication routing information in the form of one or more hierarchical lists of destinations based on the time of day and day of the week. The system receives communications directed to the subscriber's personal number and identifies the source of the communication. The system then selects a first destination for the communication from the hierarchical list. At the first destination, the system announces the identified source of the communication and requests disposition information as to the acceptance, formal rejection or passive rejection, such as a no answer, of the communication. If rejected, the system routes the communication to the default destination selected by the subscriber. If there is a passive rejection, the system requests communication disposition information from the next destination in the destination list according to the hierarchy selected by the subscriber. The system continues to request communication disposition information from each sequential destination on the destination list until the communication is accepted or until the last destination on the destination list is reached, at which point the communication is routed to the last destination.
Other voice mail and message delivery systems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,301,226 to Olson et al., 5,058,152 to Solomon et al., 5,889,839 to Beyda et al., 4,972,461 to Brown et al., 5,761,271 to Karnowski, and 5,177,780 to Kasper et al.
Telephones are also being used in connection with credit card transactions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,250 to McAllister illustrates a system and a method for enhancing the security of credit card use through a telephone system wherein the subscriber may establish through the telephone network a series of parameters which must be satisfied in order to activate the credit card to permit validation by passage of the card through the conventional point-of-sale magnetic swiping device. The parameters may include subscriber establishment of an activation time frame, an activation area, a dollar limit on purchasing power, a temporary PIN valid subject to satisfaction of the other parameters, and voice verification.
Despite these systems, there still is a need for a secure system and method for carrying out financial transactions which also allows a user to leave voice messages and e-mails for others. There is also a need for a system and method for carrying out personal and/or business transactions which leaves a verifiable trail to the identity of the transaction originator. Still further, there is a need for an improved communication system for hearing impaired/deaf persons.